A Droughtmaster bull has smashed the breed world record at the Central Queensland Livestock Exchange in Gracemere, selling for $220,000.
Adam and Shelley Geddes at Oasis Droughtmasters, about 50km north of Dingo, sold bull 'Oasis A Long John' to Rondel Droughtmasters at the 2022 Droughtmaster national sale on Wednesday.
Mr Geddes said his family was overjoyed with the sale, and it still had not 'sunk in'.
"I just still can't believe it. We put a lot of time and effort into it. It's good to be rewarded for it," Mr Geddes said.
"You dream of these things; you never think it'll happen."
Mr Geddes said there had been some interest in the bull over the last few months.
"He nearly stayed at home, but we're starting to build a house, so that's why he ended up coming … but we collected him.
"We'll do a few AI (artificial insemination) programs with him, and we have his mum and his dad still there, so we'll probably do something there as well again.
"We'll try and breed another one. That'd be nice."
The sale breaks the previous breed record of $180,000 set by bull Glenlands Prince from Glenlands Droughtmasters in 2012.
Anthony Ball, a stud stock auctioneer for Elders Queensland, sold the bull and said it took a 'special kind of bull' to break the record.
"Records are there to be broken. They may get broken one day, but these sorts of days just don't happen too often," he said.
"I'm just so happy, and it couldn't have gone to nicer people. They've been rewarded for [their] dedication."
As for the bull, Mr Ball said he 'had it all'.
"The Oasis type, all start with a really good strong head. He's got that beautiful hood to his eye. He's big, meaty, with good flank and skin that just ripples all the way down the hock there — beautifully balanced.
"When he stood up, it didn't matter where you sat in the ring; he was just amazing from every angle, just a true sire in every sense of the word."
He said it was wonderful to see the record broken in the year the breed turns 60.
"It just raises the profile of the beef capital and certainly for the Droughtmaster breed."
Complete turnaround
Mr Ball said the sale also showed how well the industry was doing.
"I know that the Geddes family, 12-18 months ago, was pumping water and didn't have a blade of grass, and the dams were empty, and they did it tough."
Mr Geddes said he spent the last "couple of years" carting water and getting help from the neighbours.
"We were running poly [pipe] just to keep all the cows alive and some nights you're there to midnight carting water, but it's all worth it on days like this."
Mr Geddes said rain over the last few months had turned things around.
"It's looking beautiful out there. The dams are full, and there's plenty of feed, and the cows are fat," he said.
"The rain doesn't seem to stop now. I was praying every night for it for the last three years, and now it just keeps coming, which is nice.
"The country is looking good, and the cattle prices are going well, so you can't complain to be in the industry at the moment."
